City and county government plays a critical role in providing for the well-being of the people of San Francisco. The decisions it makes — and its capacity to implement those decisions effectively — directly affect the lives of hundreds of thousands of people every day. Over time, San Francisco's governance structure has evolved to distribute authority and maximize oversight. As a result, policies can’t always be effectively implemented and don’t always meet the needs of the people they were intended to serve.
Operational and policy decisions by the mayor and the Board of Supervisors affect community health, safety, and economic outcomes for everyone who calls San Francisco home. Recent transformations — such as technology advances, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the reduction of office workers downtown — along with long-standing issues, such as the lack of affordable housing and homelessness, have tested the city’s capacity to adapt to changing conditions. The lack of clear, coordinated action to address big challenges has led to a growing perception that the city government isn’t working.
San Francisco can choose to design a better system of governance that supports leadership and empowerment with clear lines of accountability. Designed to Serve lays out eight recommendations to increase the mayor’s ability to manage departments effectively, create clear lines of authority and accountability that everyone understands, and support effective policy making by improving legislative processes.